I faked a Starbucks Caramel Macchiato at home - here's why it was better than the real thing

Which I thought was funny, because I’ve never ordered one, nor known anyone to have ever ordered one. But anyway, this intrigued me, and even more so when the emails kept telling me I could make one myself at home with ease. Ok, challenge accepted.

But before I did, I had to see what the real deal was all about, so I set off to my nearest Starbucks to get hold of one of these caramel delights. Well, £4.75 later, I found out that it wasn’t caramelly at all.

I went to the drive thru, then pulled over and inspected the goods just seconds later. There was absolutely no sign of any caramel topping promised in the Starbucks pictures, and neither was there any hint of a caramel taste. What there was - in abundance - was an overwhelming sweetness from the vanilla syrup at mixed in with the foamy milk. The coffee itself seemed pretty weak, and while it wasn’t an awful drink, I certainly wouldn’t pay a fiver again for it, and infact it was that sweet I didn’t finish it.

But I had committed to making one at home, so I went off to buy the supplies - some vanilla syrup (£3.45 for a bottle of Monin), caramel sauce (Carnation drizzle at £2.69), and milk (Morrisons organic at £1.55 for two pints). I already had some Starbucks Nespresso pods at home, but they work out at around 45p each.

To make it was easy - a dash of vanilla syrup, topped by frothy hot milk, tip in a shot of espresso, then drizzle some caramel over the top. You obviously would need access to a coffee machine to make this easy, but if you have, then it really is.

And what did it taste like? Much better than the drive-thru version! This one actually had some caramel in it for once, there wasn’t too much sickly vanilla syrup, and the raito of coffee to milk was more to my liking. What was also to my liking was the cost. Okay, so you need a machine, but long term, this is going to work out MUCH cheaper than a regular Starbucks order.